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11 song debut album from Chicagos Rash.
Our take: Debut album from this Chicago band featuring a few former members of Divine Right. The album's artwork--which is excellent, by the way--has a very Youth Attack-esque aesthetic (I think of Failures' Decline and Fall LP every time I see it... maybe it's the same designer?), and that's a good indication of what you're getting here. Like my favorite bands on Youth Attack--the Repos, Failures, Raw Nerve, Cult Ritual, etc.--Rash play music that is undeniably in the tradition of early 80s hardcore, but doesn't have the pared-down aesthetic of so many retro 80s-style bands. They do take the loud-and-fast approach of innumerable 80s USHC bands, but they combine it with a focus on atmosphere and texture that I associate with genres like 90s AmRep-style noise rock and black metal. At their best, Rash make music that has all of the energy and aggression of punk and hardcore but with boatloads of additional depth and subtlety. They're particularly effective on slower tracks, where those interesting vibes and textures don't fly by too fast to appreciate them, but the fast stuff is killer too. Odds are that if the artwork on this one says "buy me" to you that you will be very pleased with your purchase.
Our take: Debut album from this Chicago band featuring a few former members of Divine Right. The album's artwork--which is excellent, by the way--has a very Youth Attack-esque aesthetic (I think of Failures' Decline and Fall LP every time I see it... maybe it's the same designer?), and that's a good indication of what you're getting here. Like my favorite bands on Youth Attack--the Repos, Failures, Raw Nerve, Cult Ritual, etc.--Rash play music that is undeniably in the tradition of early 80s hardcore, but doesn't have the pared-down aesthetic of so many retro 80s-style bands. They do take the loud-and-fast approach of innumerable 80s USHC bands, but they combine it with a focus on atmosphere and texture that I associate with genres like 90s AmRep-style noise rock and black metal. At their best, Rash make music that has all of the energy and aggression of punk and hardcore but with boatloads of additional depth and subtlety. They're particularly effective on slower tracks, where those interesting vibes and textures don't fly by too fast to appreciate them, but the fast stuff is killer too. Odds are that if the artwork on this one says "buy me" to you that you will be very pleased with your purchase.